Method of making fish rods



Aug. 2-, 1949.

J. W. HARVEY METHOD OF MAKING FISH RODS Filed Feb. 4, 1944 INVENTOR fiZn-omrav Patented Aug. 2, 1949 UNITED s 'rrrras PATENT orFlcE METHOD OF MAKING FISH RODS J ames W. Harvey, Lakevi'lle, Conn.

Application February 4, 1944, Serial No. 521,056.

4 claims. (Cl. 144-309) A successful fish rod must be light and flexible and yet strong and durable. For a popular appeal it must also be inexpensive. Probably the most common rod is made of split bamboo. Attempts have been. made to use various other kinds of wood but so far as I know no one has heretofore been able to make a satisfactory rod of common Wood such as hickory which can be sold at a popular price. It might seem that a rod could be made of a Single piece of hickory but it is impossible to get sufllciently strong and straight grained wood. I 1

According to my invention I take fairly straight grained hickory and out it into strips which are tapered from a thickness of about .15 of an inch at the butt end down to about .05 of an inch at the tip and about .45 of an inch wide, the width being approximately equal to the desired diameter of the rod at the butt end. Each strip is of substantially the full length of the rod if it is for a one piece rod. A number of these tapered or wedge-like strips are then glued or cemented together by the use of waterproof adhesives, such for instance as require heat and pressure to set. The body thus formed is then planed on the sides so that it is tapered from the larger square sectional butt end to a smaller squar cross section at the tip. The corners are then planed off at about 45 from end to end. The body is then sandpapered from end to end. This rounds 01f the corners somewhat and may even produce a substantially circular cross section at and near the tip. This is a most economical method of manufacture and minimizes splintering of the small diameter of the wood which would ruin the rod. The butt end may be turned if desired as there is little danger of splintering such a heavy part. The body is then treated with oil and polished and varnished. Suitable line guides and fittings for handles and reels are of course applied. Such a rod may be cut up into sections and provided with joints if desired or the sections may be formed separately in the same manner as the one-piece rod.

Fig. 1 is a side View of a rod embodying one form of my invention, bowed somewhat as it is under strain. This 'form is made of three tapered layers and its diameter is shown somewhat larger in proportion to its length than is usual.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective and cross section taken near the butt end and on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective and cross section taken between the butt and tip.

Fig. 4 is a section taken at the tip.

Figs. 5, 6 and '7 are similar fragmentary'perspectives and sections of a rod made of four layers.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary perspective and cross section of the butt end of a rod substantially circular in cross section.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a single strip used in building up a blank from which a rod is made, the proportions of width and thickness to length being somewhat greater than in actual practice.

Fig. 10 is an end view ofthe butt end of a blank slab made up of three assembled layers from which a number of rod blanks may be cut, the dotted lines indicating where the slab is to be cut up into blanks for a number of rods.

Fig. 11 is a cross sectional view taken near the tip end of the blank slab before the slab is cut into individual blanks.

In the form shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 the center layer or strip H) has cemented to it side strips H, H, all of them being tapered in width and thickness from the butt l2 to the tip 13. The corners of the outer strips are beveled ofi at M so that they are trapesoidal in cross section and with the center strip produce an octagonal section of rod throughout all or substantially the entire length of the rod. The butt end l2, however, may be turned or shaped to have a circular cross section as at [5 to fit a handle and the tip l3 may also be smoothed off substantially round in section to accommodate a conventional line fitting.

Ordinarily three layers or strips are sufficient to form a flyrod but in some cases, as for instance for trolling and bait casting, four layers are better as shown in the sectional views of Figs. 5, 6 and 7. Here there are two inner layers l0, l0 and two outer or side layers H, It having their corners beveled off to produce octagonal cross section effect.

The dimensions mentioned are not to be regarded as critical although they have been found quite satisfactory for ordinary use. Of course a greater number of layers might be used but this increases the cost of manufacture.

Heavier salt water rods may be made in a similar manner but of a larger number of layers or larger stock so as to provide greater strength than is required for fresh water fishing. The diameter of these heavier rods is larger-tapered from say .8" at the butt end to .4" at the tip. Such larger rods may in fact be made of 6 or '7 layers and in this case 1 or 2 of the central layers may be of uniform thickness from end to end and the outer layers tapered the same as in the lighter rods. In all cases, however, each strip is continuous from end to end of the rod. The finished rod is tapered on all four sides and the corners beveled ofi from the butt to near the tip and smoothed oil at the tip.

By this method of construction th adhesive binds together the individual fibres of the wood and thus augments the natural strength of the wood especially when the plastic or adhesive is applied so as to substantially impregnate the wood. The multiply structure is especially important at the tip of the rod which is quite small in diameter where even slight imperfection in the wood itself renders the rod useless unless reinforced by the adhesive. 1

It should be understood that the rods when shaped as set forth sometimes need straightening before staining, sealing and varnishing or coating.

Rods made in this way have proved remarkably strong and yet whippy and maintain their straight shape under all reasonable conditions of use. I

Although it is possible to build up the tapered blanks individually I have found it is much more practical to build up slabs four or five times the width of a single rodv blank as indicated at it in Figs. 10 and 11 and cement the layers together under pressure. Then when they are set the slabs are sawed into strips each of which constitutes a blank tapered in thickness and having parallel sides. The sides are then planed oil to form the tapered body having a substantially square section from end to end. If the grain is not quite straight itis desirable to arrange the layers so that the irregularities of one layer are opposed to those of the adjacent layer.

The butt end of a rod ma be of uniform cross section for a length suitable for the handle or that part of the rod which needs only a minimum fiexibilityiif any).

The corners of the square section blank are planed off at about 45 after which the rod is smoothed off by sandpaper or steel wool and the tip end made substantially circular in cross section.

The rod is then treated with an oil stain which is rubbed in and allowed to dry until well oxidized. The tip and line guides are then applied in the usual manner. Wrappings of silk or other threads may be applied and will reinforce the finished rod. Then a lacquer or varnish is applied.

Such a construction has substantially the same whippiness in a plane parallel with the layers of wood as in a plane at right angles thereto. This is due partly to the trapezoidal section of the side layers and partly to the actionof the cement or adhesive.

I claim:

1. The method of forming a fish rod which comprises forming a number of strips of wood tapered down uniformly inthickness from butt to tip, cementing the strips together to form a body, trimming the edges of the assembled strips to taper down their Widths from butt to tip, then beveling off .the corners of the outer strips-and then finishing the body.

2. The method of forming fish rods which comprises assembling a number of layers of wood of rectangular cross-section and of the length of the rods to be made, at least one of the inner layers being of uniform thickness from end to end and the outer layers tapering down in thickness from the butt end to the tip end, cementing the layers together to form a slab, then cutting the slab into parallel strips, then tapering the sides of the strips, then planing oil the corners of the strips, and then finishing the strips and coating the same.

3. The method of forming a laminated hickory fish rod which comprises cementing together at least three layers of hickory strips to form a blank of uniform width from end to end and approximately the width of the butt of the rod to be made, at least the outer layers being thickest at the butt end of ..the blank and tapering down in thickness to the tip at the opposite end where the combined thickness of all the strips is approximately the thickness of the tip of the rod to be made, thengradually planing the side edges of all the strips to reduce the width gradually from the butt to the tip 50 that the blank will be of the same width as the thickness at the tip, then planing off the corners of the outer layers at angles of approximately 45 from the butt toward the tip to form a uniformly tapered rod of approximately octagonal cross section.

4. The method of forming fish rods which comprises assembling at least three layers of wood of uniform width and rectangular in cross section and with the grain of the wood in all the layers extending substantially longitudinally, at least the outer layers tapering down in thickness from the butt end to'the tip end, cementing the layers together to form a slab, then cutting the slab into strips of uniform width, then tapering down the sides 'of the strips from the butt end to the tip end, then planingoff the corners of the outer strips at angles of approximately 45 to form the rods and then finishing the rods.

JAMES W. HARVEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 213,434 Malleson Mar, 18, 1879 333,409 Hale Dec. 29, 1885 592,613 Kenyon Oct. 26, 1897 1,239,356 Cochrane et a1 Sept. 4, 1917 1,317,146 Welles Sept. 23, 1919 1,450,646 Sadenwater Apr. 3, 1923 Re. 16,058 Jordan Apr. 28, 1925 1,755,159 Cowdery et a1 Apr. 15, 1930 1,811,419 Anderson June 23, 1931 1,961,642 Pirnie June 5, 1934 2,009,265 Hirschfield July 23, 1935 2,101,542 Hartzell Dec. 7, 1937 2,104,494 OBrien Jan. 4, 1933 2,256,946 Hill Sept. 23, 1941 2,301,339 Smith et al. Nov. 10, 1942 

